We all take a wicked pleasure in discovering who are the richest and most influential people in the world, don’t we? Even if sometimes the net worth of these people gives us some heat and we have difficulty imagining that only one person can have so much money. When you think of the richest and most influential people in the United Kingdom, you usually think of celebrities and sportspeople, but in fact, they are often the entrepreneurs and investors who own the most wealth. So here are 20 of the people with the most money in the United Kingdom in 2019!
1. Simon Cowell
Venture: X Factor
Net worth: £325 million
Country: England
Few people have absolutely no idea who Simon Cowell is. Born in 1959, he studied at Windsor Tech and then briefly worked on the set of The Shining. He then worked as an A&R consultant for the BMG record company. He began his television career as a judge on Pop Idol in 2001, then continued as a judge on American Idol, the American version of the show, and finally ended up on X Factor.
2. J.K. Rowling
Venture: Author (Harry Potter)
Net worth: £1 billion
Country: England
Everyone knows J.K. Rowling and his Harry Potter saga, 7 books that have given rise to several other related literary and cinematographic works. She started the very first volume of the young wizard’s history in 1990, during a train trip, but only published it in 1997. During this difficult seven-year period, the author lost her mother, divorced her husband and lived below the poverty line with her child. J.K. Rowling is the first author to sell more than a billion books.
3. Laurence Graff
Venture: Graff Diamonds
Net worth: $5.6 billion
Country: England
Half-Romanian, half-Russian, Laurence Graff was born in Stepney in 1938. After deciding to drop out of school at the age of 15 to become an apprentice jeweller. He started by selling models all over England, then opened two independent stores. He finally succeeded in creating his own company, Graff Diamonds, in 1966 and gained the recognition we know when one of his designers won the De Beers Diamond Award. The company is now very well known in England, but also in the Middle East.
4. The Reuben brothers
Venture: Trans-World Metals
Net worth: $14.4 billion
Country: England
David and Simon Reuben were born in India, but they both have English nationality and are undoubtedly among the richest people in the world. While Simon never finished his studies and first started a carpet business, his brother, David, was more in the scrap metal industry. Together, they decided to invest in the metals market in Russia, and this is how their aluminum business grew at a high speed, going so far as to control up to 7% of world aluminum production. Now, Trans-World Metals operates not only in the United Kingdom, but also in Indonesia, South Africa and Morocco.
5. Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken
Venture: Heineken International
Net worth: $13.8 billion
Country: England
You don’t need to be a skilled connoisseur to recognize this entrepreneur’s last name. Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken owns a quarter of the shares of Heineken International. Living in London with her husband Michael de Carvalho, who is CFO of Citigroup, and their 5 children, Charlene inherited £3 billion in 2002, adding to her fortune.
6. Richard Branson
Venture: The Virgin Group
Net worth: $4.9 billion
Country: England
Richard Branson has been active in the world of entrepreneurship since he was 16 years old when he launched Student magazine, and also owns a considerable fortune through The Virgin Group. It all started when he opened the Virgin Records record store chain, eventually becoming a record company and then an airline. The Virgin Group also includes Virgin Galactic, a company that has been in existence since 2004 and focuses on space tourism. Thanks to his entrepreneurial spirit, Richard Branson was knighted at Buckingham Palace.
7. Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay
Venture: Shop Direct Group
Net worth: £7.2 billion
Country: England
The Barclay twins are identical and each billionaire. Investing in real estate, media and retail, they are London-based and began their careers at GE before moving into decoration and painting. They were managers of the Candy Corner tobacco and candy store, but when it closed, they founded the construction and decoration company Barclay Brothers. Their wealth comes mainly from investments in various breweries, casinos and other companies.
8. Jim Ratcliffe
Venture: Ineos
Net worth: $10 billion
Country: England
Founder of the subsidiary Ineos, a mega conglomerate producing chemicals, Jim Ratcliff began building his fortune in 1998 when he founded his company, which now has a turnover of around £80 billion. He holds a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Birmingham and recently donated 25 million books to the school. He began his career working for the oil company Esso, then obtained an MBA in commerce from London Business School, to found Ineos’ parent company, Inspec.
9. Sri and Gopi Hinduja
Venture: Ashok Leyland, IndusInd Bank
Net worth: £20.6 billion
Country: England
Currently ranked second among the richest people in the United Kingdom, Sri and Gopi Hinduja lead the Hinduja Group, a mega-conglomerate operating in various sectors such as banking, health, automotive and foundry. A family business in India at first, their father then moved the company to Iran in 1919, but the political upheavals in that country forced the brothers to move it again in 1979, this time to London. The company experienced a dramatic increase when Sri Hinduja decided to buy the rights to the Bollywood film Sangam, whose foreign sales exploded completely.
10. Sir Len Blavatnik
Venture: TNK-BP, Warner Music
Net worth: £15.2 billion
Country: England
Having studied at Columbia and Harvard before investing in Russia, Sir Len Blavatnik made a lot of money through the oil, insurance and other industries. He owns a few Hollywood film companies and is also a member of the Warner Music Group. Although this billionaire, once the richest man in Britain, supported several good causes thanks to his wealth, his proximity to Russian President Vladimir Putin stains his reputation a little. Under surveillance, there are rumours that he was involved in the ongoing investigation into US President Donald Trump’s alleged collusion with Russia to win the US elections.
11. Lakshmi Mittal
Venture: ArcelorMittal
Net worth: £14.7 billion
Country: England
ArcelorMittal, founded by Lakshmi Mittal, is literally the queen of the steel industry. This company made its founder millions, but Lakshmi Mittal also sits on the Goldman Sachs board of directors and is a major contributor to Queens Park Rangers FC. Originally from India, he was the very first person of Indian origin to be ranked in Forbes magazine’s Top 10 Richest Billionaires in 2005, also taking part in Time Magazine’s “Time 100” list.
12. The Duke of Westminster (Hugh Grosvenor)
Venture: Organic bean
Net worth: £9.7 billion
Country: England
Not much is known about the private life of the 7th Duke of Westminster, but if we know one thing, it is that he has a lot of money. Even though he was once the richest man under 30 in the United Kingdom! It must be said that the legacy he received following the death of his father in 2016 greatly helped him. Unlike the previous Dukes of Westminster, Hugh Grosvenor studied in a public school when he was in elementary school. At Ellesmere College, he joined the football team, where he became a star player, and then continued his studies at the University of Newcastle. He later became account manager for the small environmental company Bio-Bean.
13. John Reece
Venture: Ineos
Net worth: £7 billion
Country: England
With £7 billion in net worth, John Reece is one of the richest men on the planet. Having studied economics, he was previously a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, quickly becoming the firm’s leading expert on chemicals and plastics. However, he left his position in 2000 to become Chief Financial Officer of Ineos. It is from his work for this company that his wealth comes from. After all, Ineos produces nearly 60 million tonnes of specialty chemicals per year, making it one of the world’s largest chemical companies!
14. Kirsty Bertarelli
Venture: Singer-songwriter, Miss UK 1988
Net worth: £9.7 billion
Country: Switzerland
If you are less aware of what is happening in the United Kingdom, you will remember Kirsty Bertarelli as Miss UK 1988, then she came second in the Miss World competition. But her fame is not just about beauty contests; she is also the author of the popular song Black Coffee by All Saints, which has risen to the top of the pop charts. Author and interpreter at her own time, she is married to the Swiss billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli.
15. Alisher Usmanov
Venture: Spotify, Metalloinvest, Arsenal FC
Net worth: £10.5 billion
Country: Russia
Alisher Usmanov, who actually lives in Russia, does not have British citizenship, but since he is on several lists of the most hives in England according to The Guardian and owns almost a third of the shares of the Arsenal FC football club, he still finds his place in this list. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the billionaire started producing plastic bags and invested the money in a very smart way, notably on Facebook and Spotify.
16. Adele
Venture: Author-composer-performer
Net worth: £142 million
Country: England
British 30 years old or under the richest Briton, Adele Laurie Blue Adkins, best known simply as Adele, is a highly talented artist who has won a Grammy, a Golden Globe and an Oscar for her high-quality music. With more than 100 million copies sold of her records, she is one of the best-selling singers in the world. What is most surprising in Adele’s case is that she managed to accumulate all her wealth only through her music. No investment, no advertising contract, none of that. In order to avoid depreciating her music, she refused contracts with L’Oréal and Las Vegas, among others, and even refused to play the Super Bowl. A woman of integrity, this Adele!
17. Ed Sheeran
Venture: Author-composer-performer
Net worth: £84 million
Country: England
It is not only Adèle who lives very well from her music in the United Kingdom. Although Ed Sheeran has less wealth than the diva, he is doing very well. His music is one of the best-selling in the history of British music, with the artist now known all over the world. While his turntable albums have helped to enrich it, Ed Sheeran is also a music producer, as well as making a few appearances on television and on the big screen, including Bridget Jones’s Baby, Game of Thrones and Home and Away.
18. Emma Watson
Venture: Actress
Net worth: £61 million
Country: England
Everyone knows Emma Watson from her role as Hermione in the popular Harry Potter saga, but since then, the actress has been able to stand out from the young first-class witch with various incredible performances in movies like The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Beauty and the Beast. Emma Watson is also a very strong gender activist and works as a goodwill ambassador for the UN. However, what has certainly contributed greatly to the beauty’s fortune is her appearances in Burberry and Lancôme ads, in addition to becoming a creative consultant for fashion companies.
19. Daniel Radcliffe
Venture: Actor
Net worth: £83 million
Country: England
Star of the Harry Potter saga alongside Emma Watson in the title role, Daniel Radcliffe no longer needs a presentation either. After playing the most famous young wizard of all time, the actor has forged a place of choice in the film industry, but also in the theatre, in activism and in financial investments. However, in an interview with Forbes, he states that one of the reasons for his wealth is that he is surrounded by the most intelligent financial advisors in the industry. With hard work and good advisors, you can get far!
20. John Boyega and Daisy Ridley
Venture: Actors
Net worth: £4.5 million
Country: England
At an equal net worth of £4.5 million are the two stars of the Star Wars saga’s two most recent films, John Boyega and Daisy Ridley. Being already an actor before being offered the roles in Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015, their careers quickly reached new heights thanks to this film and it’s not over yet! In addition to being talented popular actors, John Boyega and Daisy Ridley are also producers of the films Star Wars. Their wealth is still growing!
